Logan's Run

Rating:
Summary: Movie was better (sorry)
Review: This is the novel that spawned the MGM Movie with Michael York and Jenny Agutter, and later a 70's network show. In the film and on TV, Logan was a cop, a "Sandman", in a future sybaritic utopia where nobody is allowed to live past their 31st birthday. Set in a domed city where life was a paradise, "Logan's Run" offered only a single catch to the life of non-stop partying - retirement was fatal. Runners, those trying to escape their fate and the City of Domes, are hunted down and killed by the Sandmen. The film's Logan, like everybody in the city, has too much fun to worry about his oncoming 31st and, because everybody has the chance of "renewal" - a chance of survival offering more hope than a run from Sandmen. Since nobody really escapes the sandmen, Logan sees no point to escape. In both book and film, Logan undergoes some sort of transformation, and "Sanctuary" from his suicidal society by becoming a Runner.

Most things are different in the novel. There is no City of Domes - Logan's society covers the Earth, so there doesn't seem any place to escape to. Instead, Logan seems to run from place to place, dodging his former partner, the Sandman Francis, but without creating the impression of getting anywhere. Another big difference is the birthday cut-off: here it's 21. (Think that those 10 years don't matter? Try asking a 21 year old; but don't expect an answer unless you're under 30). The biggest difference of all is just why Logan becomes a Runner. The jovial Logan of the movie becomes a Runner as part of the computer's plot to have him infiltrate Sanctuary - the asylum of successful runners. Not quite enthused, Logan is forced to Run when the computer sets his "life-clock" to 31 years (he had a few years left and was prepared to enjoy them). The book's grim and selfish Logan becomes a Runner simply because he's not ready to die. Going to a party with other suspected Runners, he meets Jessica and convinces her that he wants to survive. The two share various adventures and then fall in love in their search for sanctuary, all the while fleeing Francis who doubtless has plans to kill them. They also have to deal with specific dangers at each stop - wild animals, dangerous Indians, historically accurate war monuments and a homicidal cyborg named Box. Because the characters of the novel run simply for their lives, their journey doesn't have that aspect of self discovery that the film had. Also, because the inhabitants of the book know more about their past than those in the film, there's no chance of our heroes surprising us with their discovery of the ruins of our age and clues as to how their society formed from our own. The biggest difference is Sanctuary itself, which the book deals more directly with (and not as satisfyingly as in the film). In short, the book is overrated and not a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Movie was better (sorry)
Review: This is the novel that spawned the MGM Movie with Michael York and Jenny Agutter, and later a 70's network show. In the film and on TV, Logan was a cop, a "Sandman", in a future sybaritic utopia where nobody is allowed to live past their 31st birthday. Set in a domed city where life was a paradise, "Logan's Run" offered only a single catch to the life of non-stop partying - retirement was fatal. Runners, those trying to escape their fate and the City of Domes, are hunted down and killed by the Sandmen. The film's Logan, like everybody in the city, has too much fun to worry about his oncoming 31st and, because everybody has the chance of "renewal" - a chance of survival offering more hope than a run from Sandmen. Since nobody really escapes the sandmen, Logan sees no point to escape. In both book and film, Logan undergoes some sort of transformation, and "Sanctuary" from his suicidal society by becoming a Runner.

Most things are different in the novel. There is no City of Domes - Logan's society covers the Earth, so there doesn't seem any place to escape to. Instead, Logan seems to run from place to place, dodging his former partner, the Sandman Francis, but without creating the impression of getting anywhere. Another big difference is the birthday cut-off: here it's 21. (Think that those 10 years don't matter? Try asking a 21 year old; but don't expect an answer unless you're under 30). The biggest difference of all is just why Logan becomes a Runner. The jovial Logan of the movie becomes a Runner as part of the computer's plot to have him infiltrate Sanctuary - the asylum of successful runners. Not quite enthused, Logan is forced to Run when the computer sets his "life-clock" to 31 years (he had a few years left and was prepared to enjoy them). The book's grim and selfish Logan becomes a Runner simply because he's not ready to die. Going to a party with other suspected Runners, he meets Jessica and convinces her that he wants to survive. The two share various adventures and then fall in love in their search for sanctuary, all the while fleeing Francis who doubtless has plans to kill them. They also have to deal with specific dangers at each stop - wild animals, dangerous Indians, historically accurate war monuments and a homicidal cyborg named Box. Because the characters of the novel run simply for their lives, their journey doesn't have that aspect of self discovery that the film had. Also, because the inhabitants of the book know more about their past than those in the film, there's no chance of our heroes surprising us with their discovery of the ruins of our age and clues as to how their society formed from our own. The biggest difference is Sanctuary itself, which the book deals more directly with (and not as satisfyingly as in the film). In short, the book is overrated and not a great read.

Rating:
Summary: Fast Reading original saga of LOGAN 5!
Review: You're probably way too familiar with the 1976 epic Sci Fi movie LOGAN'S RUN. Here is the original novel that inspired the book, but it's hardly recognizable as anything other than a similar theme. Yes, there is Logan and Jessica running from the Sandman named Francis in a post-apocalyptic world where life is ended when youth disappears. But here life ends at 21! There are no domed cities, the entire planet is controlled by the megacomputer, and Logan and Jessica encounter far more than they ever did in the movie. They fight for their lives in the Arctic, get caught in a Civil War recreation with androids, and face the wild jungle of Washington DC where lions and snakes prowl the capital city. SANCTUARY is very real, and society is fraying apart from youth tyranny. The book was an obvious reaction to the youth movement and flower power of the 60s. "Don't trust anyone over 30!" taken to the extreme. It's an easy read, and lots of fun! There is talk in Hollywood of a remake of this, so better to read it now because there are rumblings that they want to stick closer to the novel. And why not? The novel spawned two sequels!

Rating:
Summary: Fast Reading original saga of LOGAN 5!
Review: You're probably way too familiar with the 1976 epic Sci Fi movie LOGAN'S RUN. Here is the original novel that inspired the book, but it's hardly recognizable as anything other than a similar theme. Yes, there is Logan and Jessica running from the Sandman named Francis in a post-apocalyptic world where life is ended when youth disappears. But here life ends at 21! There are no domed cities, the entire planet is controlled by the megacomputer, and Logan and Jessica encounter far more than they ever did in the movie. They fight for their lives in the Arctic, get caught in a Civil War recreation with androids, and face the wild jungle of Washington DC where lions and snakes prowl the capital city. SANCTUARY is very real, and society is fraying apart from youth tyranny. The book was an obvious reaction to the youth movement and flower power of the 60s. "Don't trust anyone over 30!" taken to the extreme. It's an easy read, and lots of fun! There is talk in Hollywood of a remake of this, so better to read it now because there are rumblings that they want to stick closer to the novel. And why not? The novel spawned two sequels!